Humanoids cost as much as an SUV — and could soon replace humans, Brett Adcock tells Nikhil Kamath

They cost as much as an SUV — and could soon do your job, your dishes, and your data analysis. Humanoids, the next great leap in artificial intelligence, are no longer confined to sci-fi. They’re being built, tested, and deployed — and according to Brett Adcock, founder and CEO of Figure AI, they’re about to change everything.

In the latest episode of WTF Online, Adcock joins Nikhil Kamath to unpack why the global race to build human-like robots isn’t about how many you can make, but how smart you can make them. “This is the biggest technological transition since the Internet,” Adcock says. “We’re building robots that can think, reason, and adapt in the real world — not pre-programmed machines, but systems that learn.”

Adcock, who previously built flying taxis at Archer Aviation, now calls humanoids “the ultimate general-purpose machine.” Figure AI’s robots, he says, are designed to work in the same world humans do — “a world built by us, for us.” Whether that means folding laundry, moving inventory in a warehouse, or assisting in healthcare, these machines are being trained to understand complex instructions and execute them autonomously.

Smarter machines

Right now, a humanoid robot costs roughly as much as a mid-range SUV. But unlike a car, it appreciates in intelligence. “Once one robot figures something out, all of them do,” Adcock explains. “That’s the magic of fleet learning.”

Through its Helix neural network, Figure AI connects all its robots into a shared data ecosystem — a kind of “collective brain” that learns continuously. “Every new task mastered by one robot makes every other robot smarter,” he says. “We’re scaling intelligence like software — but in physical form.”

The US edge

That scaling ability, Adcock believes, is where the U.S. holds an edge. “While China dominates manufacturing, the U.S. is winning the intelligence race,” he tells Kamath. “You can buy hardware in China, but it won’t work. We’re focused on robots that can think.”

He draws a sharp line between hardware-only bets and intelligence-first design. “The real frontier isn’t building more robots,” he says. “It’s building better minds. The race isn’t about who can make the most units — it’s about who can make the smartest one.”

Adcock says most Chinese robots are “hands without brains” — often impressive to look at, but limited in function. In contrast, U.S. companies like Figure AI are fusing AI, robotics, and system integration, creating robots that reason, adapt, and improve themselves.

The race

Adcock calls this emerging battle the “humanoid arms race”, one that will determine which nations dominate the next industrial era. “The winner won’t be the one who ships the first humanoid,” he says. “It’ll be the one who ships the first million — and makes them smarter every day.”

He believes humanoids priced like SUVs today will cost as little as laptops within a decade, setting off an automation wave that could redefine labor, manufacturing, and GDP itself. “The world’s next trillion-dollar company,” Adcock predicts, “won’t just write code — it’ll build consciousness.”

Where to bet now

On where investors should put their money, Kamath poses a pointed question: “If you had one dollar to invest, where would it be?” Adcock’s answer is unequivocal — bet on companies mastering both hardware and AI.

“The companies that can make robots both think and move will own the future,” he says. “AI systems will eat everything. Software ate the world before this — now AI will eat software, and humanoids will be the largest economic opportunity in history.”

For investors, his message is clear: the real winners of the next decade will be those who can merge artificial intelligence with mechanical precision — building robots that not only exist in the world, but understand it.

As humanoids evolve from $50,000 prototypes to mass-market machines, Adcock believes they’ll reshape industries, labor, and even the global economy. “The world’s next great companies,” he says, “won’t just automate — they’ll build intelligence into every motion.”